


as luck would have it

by witchboys



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Light Angst, M/M, enjoy this teen rom com of a fic lol, matchmaker!minho, soundcloud rapper!jisung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-09-26 10:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17139746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchboys/pseuds/witchboys
Summary: minho can't seem to mind his own business, jisung just wants to have a good time





	1. Chapter 1

“Now, class, please turn to page 68. Moon Sooyoung, please read the opening paragraph.”

Minho props his chin up on his hand and turns to look outside the windows, zoning out as soon as Sooyoung begins reading aloud the first sentence. School had just gotten back in session the week prior after a month-long break for the winter and Minho is already bored. Glancing down at his world history textbook every so often to avoid being called out on by Mrs. Kang as her next victim, Minho aimlessly taps his fingers against the withered pages and fills his thoughts with what he should choose for lunch at the school cafeteria later this afternoon.

After thirty-five more minutes of class moving at an excruciatingly slow place, the bell finally rings and abruptly ends Mrs. Kang’s explanation of a unit exam happening next Thursday. Shoving his books into his desk in preparation for the next session, Minho gets up from his seat as someone makes their way over to him.

“I thought class would never be over. I’m starving,” his curly-haired mop of a classmate groans as he clutches his stomach.

Minho rolls his eyes. “But you’re always starving, Chan. That’s just your constant state of being.”

Chan, still hunched over, looks up at him and pouts. “That’s not very nice.”

“Well, the truth hurts, kid. You reap what you sow.”

“I really don’t think that’s how you use that idiom.”

“And I think I’m leaving this conversation. I finally decided that I wanted mandu ramyeon today instead of seolleongtang and I want to beat everyone to it before it’s all gone.”

“Okay, okay,” Chan sighs as the two of them walk out of the classroom and into the busy hallway already crowded with students heading to the cafeteria. “You’ll have to go first, anyways. Someone from class 2-A asked me for my notes and he helped me last time with math, so I have to return the favor. Wanna hang out tomorrow though? It’s Saturday.”

“Nah, I’ve already got plans that consist of me laying in bed for as long as possible and eating a family-size bag of spicy garlic shrimp chips that I bought last night. I’m not changing that for anything.” Minho gives his best friend a mock salute. “See you after lunch, loser.”

He turns on his heels and marches down the hallway towards the staircase as he hears a wailing cry of “I’m not a loser!” in the distance.

Hopping down the steps two at a time, he almost crashes into somebody standing right at the bottom of the stairwell. The student seems oblivious to what could have been a terrible accident and an even more terrible obstruction to his prized lunch.

Minho grunts in annoyance. He’s about to just continue on his way when he notices that the student isn’t necessarily standing in the way as much as he is hiding behind the corner of the stairwell. Curious, Minho says out loud to the back of the boy’s head, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

The boy in question jumps a few inches up in the air and whips his head around so quickly in fear that Minho almost feels bad about it. Now that he’s facing him though, Minho is able to take a good look at him. Long black bangs fall across the boy’s forehead, hair not styled in any particular way except parted a bit at the side in a natural wave. His heart-shaped mouth is gulping open and closed like a goldfish gasping for air, but no words come out besides a quiet strangled noise. Moving his gaze a bit downwards, Minho spots a yellow name tag pinned onto the boy’s uniform with the name ‘Han Jisung’ printed on it.

_Ah, a second year. I didn’t know they made them this small._

To be fair, he’s maybe only a few centimeters shorter. But from his round cheeks and the way he’s looking up at Minho with these bright doe eyes that suddenly remind him of that one song about the moon hitting your eye and a big pizza pie, he really does seem smaller.

“Um - uh, sorry. I - I wasn’t -” the boy begins to stutter out with his arms flailing around him.

“What are you even looking at? Is there something over there?”

“Wait, huh? Hold on -”

Minho steps around him, poking his head around the corner to see what’s going on out there. There isn’t anything particularly remarkable, only a teacher walking to the staff room at the end of the hallway and some fellow third years milling around the courtyard entrance. Taking a closer look, Minho recognizes the wide blinding smile on one of the third year’s faces. He’s talking animatedly with big hand gestures, while a small group of male classmates stand around him in awe and wonder.

Minho ducks his head back behind the corner and looks at Jisung. “That guy? Kim Namjoon?”

The way Jisung’s entire face immediately flushes red is absolutely comical. Even the way his eyebrows furrow as he yells in a frantic whisper “Why did you have to say it so loud?!” has Minho almost breaking out into a laugh before he manages to suppress it.

“Sorry,” Minho says more so out of reflex. He whispers back, “What business do you have with him anyways?”

Jisung wrinkles his nose. “Nothing concerning you.”

Minho studies Jisung’s face a little longer until it hits him -- this kid is obviously head over heels for the school’s star athlete and all-around cool kid, Kim Namjoon. Word has it that the guy even is a prodigal rapper of some sort in the underground online music community, which makes him even more objectively cooler. Minho finds it crazy sometimes that they somehow even ended up as former teammates on their school’s soccer team for two years until Minho decided to drop out the last season to enjoy his final year as a teen without any responsibilities before entering the crushing realities of adulthood.

A figurative lightbulb goes off in Minho’s head. “Hey, I could help you, you know. With your problem, I mean.”

“When did I ever say I had a problem?!” Jisung hisses as Minho tilts his gaze up at the ceiling and nods his head.

“I've had a couple of classes with Namjoon over the past three years and we even played soccer together for two,” he continues, ignoring him. “I’d say I know him pretty well.”

Jisung narrows his eyes. “And why should I believe you?”

Minho grins. “Because I’m the only chance you’ve got.”

 

***

 

“So why do you like Kim Namjoon anyways?”

Minho and Jisung find themselves sitting outside on one of the stone benches overlooking the grassy field surrounding their school. It’s still a bit too chilly in early March to be sitting outside like this, but Minho has endured colder from months of waking up at ungodly hours of the morning for practice when the sun hadn’t even completely risen over the sleepy district of Gangdong yet. He doesn’t know if Jisung is alright though from the way he’s folding his arms so tightly across his chest, but he hasn’t said anything so he’s probably fine. Anyways, Jisung was the one who picked this spot in the first place. It was one of the more secluded places around campus where not many curious ears would be lurking about listening in on their conversation.

“Yeah, so what?” Jisung says defiantly. “I like him because he’s smart, funny, kind, humble, and super talented. Why wouldn’t anybody not like him?”

Minho snorts. The explanation sounds like something repeated verbatim from a typical teen romance film. Jisung’s feelings seem genuine and innocent though, so he’ll overlook the corniness of his reasoning and focus on the game plan at hand.

“Here’s the thing: you don’t even share the same classes or clubs with him. Not only that, you’re not even in the same year and haven’t interacted with him once. We need some way to get you to be in his circle without making it seem obvious to increase your chances of meeting and talking to him.”

Jisung nods solemnly as Minho carries on. “We might not be on the same soccer team anymore nor have I talked to him much lately, but I guess you could say that we’re still considered friends. We’ve had a few classes together over the years too, so we’re pretty close. At least, more than just at an acquaintance level, which -- let’s be real -- you’re not even on.”

“Hey!” Jisung shouts, fist poised like he’s about to punch Minho in the face.

Minho throws his hands up in surrender. “An honest man never lies, and I’m a man of my word.”

“Yeah, but you sure can be a dick,” he thinks he hears Jisung mutter under his breath.

The late winter wind picks up a bit and Jisung holds himself even more tightly as he tries to fight off the cold with the threadbare hoodie jacket he has layered on top of his uniform. Despite the fact that he’s shivering, he manages to shoot Minho a heated glare.

“So what’s your brilliant plan, smart guy?”

“Yongsan. This Saturday. And Namjoon’s got one hell of a passion for horror movies.”

Minho sticks a hand out. Jisung takes it with a firm shake without any hesitation.

Minho supposes that his weekend plans might be changing after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a big thank u to the lizzie mcguire movie for being a huge inspiration for this chapter
> 
> anyways merry christmas eve everybody!!


	2. Chapter 2

Jisung can’t believe that he’s actually doing this. Trusting some weird senior guy who happens to supposedly know _the_ Kim Namjoon and is willing to help him for some godforsaken reason without any form of payment in return? He must have really hit his head hard when he fell off of his bed yesterday morning.

Well, it’s too late to turn back now, Jisung sighs to himself as he laces up his sneakers and locks up the apartment before leaving. After coming up with a plan of inviting Namjoon and three other classmates under the guise of a casual hangout and shaking on it, the two boys had exchanged phone numbers before going their separate ways to eat lunch in their respective classrooms. Sliding his phone out of his coat pocket, he sends Minho a quick text as he stands on a platform in the underground station with his face halfway buried into his scarf.

 

> **jisung [9:12 am]:** hi minho, im waiting for my train rn i should be at the mall in 40 or 45 min

> minho [9:14 am]: also omw. will be there around the same time. we can meet at the front of the theater.

> **jisung [9:14 am]:** ok

 

After taking four flights up the mall escalators, he finally makes it to the theater at 9:56 with half an hour to spare before the movie starts. But really, who watches a horror film at 10:30 in the morning anyways? Just thinking about it is starting to make Jisung’s palms sweat as he chews on his bottom lip. At that time, he was too caught up in the moment when Minho mentioned his game plan that Jisung had agreed without actually processing the fact that he would have to sit through a two-hour film worth of unbearable torture. Albeit, that’s what a horror film is supposed to be like. But while it’s fun for other people who enjoy the adrenaline rush of those sorts of things --

Jisung shakes his head violently and huffs. _No, you can do this. It’ll be fine. Stop freaking out about it. It’s just for two hours._

A finger taps his shoulder and Jisung screams. His body and mind are struggling to decide if it wants to fight or flight, but before he can land a hit on the perpetrator he recognizes a very familiar set of sharp eyes and strong eyebrows.

“Oh, oh my god - Minho?” Jisung flaps his arms uselessly at his sides. “Why do you keep coming up behind me like that?!”

Minho just blinks at him. “And why are you so self-unaware?”

Whatever response Jisung could have had is interrupted by a loud ping from the cellphone in Minho’s hand. Minho glances down at the tiny pixelated screen and frowns.

“Bad news. Looks like Namjoon isn’t coming after all.”

The feeling of disappointment starts seeping through Jisung. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“Seems like he accidentally set his alarm to 8 pm instead of 8 am, so he completely overslept. He says that even if he leaves the house now, there’s no way he can make it in time for the movie showing.”

“That’s okay.” He offers Minho what he hopes is a smile. “Thanks for trying though. Sorry for making you come all the way out here for nothing.”

Minho stares back. “What do you mean I came all the way out here for nothing? I’m here to see the movie,” he says plainly.

“You still want to go?”

Jisung’s question is met with a curious expression. “Yeah, of course I still want to go. C’mon, let’s get our tickets.” Minho starts walking towards the ticket counter and Jisung hurriedly follows behind.

“Looks like there are still seats available for _The Ticking Clock_. Where do you wanna sit?”

Jisung’s heart suddenly starts hammering loudly in his chest. Sweat begins to form on his palms again and he tries to rub it off on his jeans. “Oh - oh, we’re going to still watch that one?”

“Hmm? Yeah, unless -” Minho glances to the side of him where Jisung is standing. He fidgets under his gaze, but Minho just turns to look over both of his shoulders and shrugs. “Well, looks like the others aren’t showing up anyways. Let’s watch this one instead.”

He points upwards towards the row of illuminated movie posters shining overhead. To the right of the dark-hued ink painting of _The Ticking Clock’s_ theatrical poster to a more colorful one featuring a cast of actors well-known for their comedic and action-packed movies.

“I saw a trailer for _Fun Haus_ awhile ago. Thought it looked good.”

A big wave of relief washes over Jisung. He looks at Minho excitedly and nods with newfound enthusiasm. “Yeah, I want to see it too!”

They purchase their tickets and make their way into the theater. Settling into the back center row of the auditorium, Minho immediately pulls out an unusually large bag of shrimp chips that Jisung didn’t even notice he had hiding inside of his jacket.

“This is kinda illegal, you know,” Jisung says as he munches on a fistful of chips.

“Shhh, I’m trying to watch this ad for a fancy humidifier. You’re ruining my concentration.”

Jisung throws a chip at an unsuspecting Minho, who gets smacked in the face with said chip. In turn, Minho starts poking at his ribs relentlessly until Jisung desperately pleads for mercy despite his laughter.

 

***

 

The sun is shining brightly through the sparse clouds as they exit the mall. The movie was, as expected, full of gag jokes and a hefty dose of car chases with some badly choreographed fight scenes. Jisung laughed so hard a couple of times that he even teared up a bit. Minho laughed along with him each time, slapping the armrest in between them and his eyes crinkling up like tiny crescent moons. Watching movies like this was definitely more fun when you were with someone else, Jisung decides.

Walking five minutes to the train station, they wave their goodbyes as Minho walks down further to his platform on a lower level. Jisung, wrapped up in his scarf again, waits at his own platform and taps away at his phone as he hums a quiet tune to himself.

 

> **jisung [12:53 pm]:** thanks for seeing the movie with me

> **jisung [12:53 pm]:** it was fun ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

> minho [12:54 pm]: lmao what is that

> **jisung [12:55 pm]:** it’s me waving at u ??? obviously ????????

> **jisung [12:56 pm]:** ????????????

> minho [12:59 pm]: uhhh sure ok. i’ll never understand you young kids and your internet lingo.

> **jisung [1:00 pm]:** you’re not even that old……. and i don’t think that’s not what u call internet lingo…...

> minho [1:01 pm]: anyways sorry that namjoon didn’t come. regroup next week and we’ll try again.

> **jisung [1:01 pm]:** it’s ok i understand, next time !!!

> minho [1:12 pm]: train’s coming now. see you later.

> **jisung [1:13 pm]:** thanks u too ♪ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hot cheetos and hot garlic shrimp chips are truly the way to my heart
> 
> and lbr jisung being scared of everything is highkey hilarious and also a big fucking mood


	3. Chapter 3

It keeps turning out like this for the next couple of weeks -- Minho making attempts in setting Jisung and Namjoon up only to have his plans fall flat each and every time.

On Tuesday, Minho passes by Namjoon in the hallway and nonchalantly brings up the fact that the arcade near the large supermarket has a new stock of figurines from a cartoon that Namjoon used to frequently gush about during practice.

Minho and Jisung head directly to the arcade afterschool, walking up and down the aisles of vibrant pinball machines and joystick games as they wait for Namjoon’s arrival. The time never comes, as Minho receives a message from him fifteen minutes later saying that he had forgotten about a make-up exam that he needed to take for physics.

Jisung briefly flicks his gaze to Minho before returning his focus on a crane game he’s currently playing. “Oh, really?” He sticks out his tongue as he expertly navigates the metal claw to clamp over one of the toys. “Again?”

Minho sighs. “I don’t know what’s up with him lately forgetting stuff.”

A triumphant electronic tune whistles from the machine and Jisung crouches down to retrieve his prize behind the plastic flap. He gently scoops up a plush sky blue whale in his arms and handles it with care. He looks up at Minho with a smile. “It’s okay. Look, isn’t she cute! I’m going to name her Guleum.”

Minho stares into Guleum’s black embroidered eyes. “Yeah, and she’s pretty big too. She takes up at least half of your arm. Is she even going to fit in your backpack?”

Jisung’s face suddenly scrunches up in distaste. “And want her to suffocate? What kind of monster are you?”

“So what are you planning to do then? Hold her in one hand, while you play games with the other?”

Unsurprisingly, that is exactly what Jisung does when they play three rounds of air hockey and five rounds of a first-person shooter. At one point, Guleum ends up in Jisung’s lap instead as they recklessly lean left and right on heavy plastic motorcycles playing a racing game that he ultimately beats Minho at. Guleum’s sweet round face pokes out from above Jisung’s crossed arms as he sits on the bus and waves at Minho from his window seat, who barks out a laugh while he stays standing at the stop waiting for his bus to arrive.

 

***

 

That same week on Friday, Minho invites Namjoon out to noraebang near campus. Jisung is busy messing with the speakers when Namjoon rings Minho’s phone to apologize that his teacher suddenly asked him to stay afterschool to tutor a classmate in econ.

Minho turns to let Jisung know once he gets off the phone, but he just shrugs. “We already paid for the room. We should stay until our hour is up.”

After fiddling with the remote for a couple of minutes, Jisung successfully pulls up a classic trot song that was popular two generations ago when their grandparents were their age. He enthusiastically smashes the play button and the entire room is instantly filled with flashing multi-colored strobe lights and the nostalgic blare of trumpets. Minho is thrown a wireless mic from the side and he finds himself openly gaping at Jisung, who is currently dropped down on both of his knees and belting out the opening line of the song at the top of his lungs. It takes Minho about ten seconds before he’s grabbing one of the tambourines from a high shelf next to the television and starts shaking away at his instrument as he jumps into the rest of the first verse.

Prioritizing to outperform one another rather than getting a perfect score, they end up collapsing on the floor dying of laughter by the eighth song.

“It would have been fun if Namjoon was here too, probably,” Minho says, panting a bit as he pulls at the collar of his shirt now sticky with sweat.

“Hmmm,” Jisung says. The two of them continue to lay sprawled out on the cool linoleum tiles out of breath as the lights are still flashing above. “Probably.”

 

***

 

The following week on Thursday, Minho messages Namjoon about eating dinner at a local fried chicken shop only to find out through another classmate that he had actually gone home earlier that day after falling ill during literature studies. Before Minho has a chance to break the bad news, he spots a pair of slim fingers creeping into his basket from his peripheral vision.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What? I’m not doing anything.” Jisung blinks innocently as he chews on a fry that clearly isn’t his. He had already inhaled his own basket of fries the second that it had arrived at their table.

Minho reaches over and pinches Jisung’s nose in retort, who tries to slap his hand away to no avail. Luckily, any attempt at the two of them starting a full-on brawl in the middle of the restaurant dies when their waiter comes back with a plate piled high with a fresh batch of fried chicken.

“We’re really bad at this,” Minho says as he bites into a slice of pickled radish.

“At least the food is good,” Jisung says as he takes a sip of soda.

Minho’s phone beeps a few minutes later with a new text alert. Looking down at his messages, he rolls his eyes as he quickly sends back a reply before turning his phone on silent.

 

> _chan [6:23 pm]:_ Are you home yet? I wanted to come over to give you back your book, but your mom said that you weren’t there.

> minho [6:23 pm]: im out right now. i’ll be home in an hour.

> _chan [6:25 pm]:_ Oh I see! You’re out with someone. Sure :)

> minho [6:25 pm]: shut.

 

The night ends with Minho eating up all of the drumsticks and leaving only the wings behind, which earns him a solid kick in the shins from Jisung from underneath the table. Minho apologizes by paying for the meal and they leave the restaurant in good spirits with a handful of cellophane-wrapped mints stuffed into their pockets.

There’ll be a next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guleum means ‘cloud’ in english!
> 
> also this entire chapter was written based on a tweet of jisung and minho sticking their tongues out at each other during their 181014 awkward silence perf with the photo caption ‘beloved icons for you and your dumbass’
> 
> also also based on minho responding to said photos in a twitter q&a with ‘han started it first >:(’ and wow it really be like that huh


	4. Chapter 4

After awhile, Minho and Jisung start hanging out together simply just because. Whenever they pass each other in the hallways, they end up having to hurry to the opposite sides of the school when the bell eventually rings because they've used up the entire passing period just talking.

Often in the past, Jisung would eat lunch in the cafeteria or in his classroom with his friends, Felix and Seungmin. They would even sneak up onto the rooftop for afternoon naps that extended past lunch time, much to Felix’s distress and Seungmin’s delight. These days, though, Jisung finds himself spending his lunch period more and more with Minho. Whether they’re laying out on the grass in the field or sitting across from one another at one of the long tables in the cafeteria, they fill their days talking about nothing in particular but still having so much more to say when they have to part ways.

Even late at night when Jisung’s buried under his covers with his phone, he can be sure to look forward to the slew of weird internet posts and stream of consciousness thoughts from Minho that make him laugh so hard that he more often than not falls asleep with his chest feeling lighter and a smile on his face.

Sometimes their nonsensical messages to each other are interspersed with things that they want to do -- like the other day when Jisung had read about a new crepe place online and wanted to try it out, he immediately texted Minho a link to the event page while he was in the middle of revising his history essay in the library. Even though they ended up lining up outside for an hour in the chilly April evening and started to wonder if the crepes were even that good or if they were just all hype, it’s still a time that Jisung thinks fondly of whenever he happens to pass by the shop.

It’s moments like these that have Jisung thinking while staring up at his bedroom ceiling at night how strangely glad he is that Namjoon didn’t show up that fateful day in March.

 

***

 

> minho [4:01 pm]: ??

> **jisung [4:01 pm]:** (๑･`▱´･๑)

> **jisung [4:01 pm]:** I JUST GOT OUT OF CLASS IM COMING

> minho [4:02 pm]: hurry up my legs are starting to freeze and becoming icicles.

> minho [4:02 pm]: also i don’t think i sent this to you yet but i saw this the other day.

> minho [4:03 pm]: [image attached]

> **jisung [4:04 pm]:** DLFNDLFN;AS; WHERE DID YOU SEE IT THAT CAT IS HUGE I WISH THAT WERE ME

> minho [4:04 pm]: it’s next to that furniture store at the bottom of the hill. i was late to class bc i was trying to pet it this morning lmao.

 

Jisung feels the corner of his lips lift up as another image pops up in the chat message -- this time instead of an extremely zoomed in photo of a large orange cat, it’s of a blurry hand scratching the cat’s head behind its ears.

Suddenly, he shoots up from his seat and gasps. “Oh, man. I need to go.”

Unfortunately, he accidentally slams his knees against his desk in the process and leans over the table in pain.

“Be careful!”

“Whoa, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Thanks, guys.” Jisung winces as he looks up at the worried expressions of his two friends standing over him.

Felix lets out sigh of relief. “Geez, you scared us. And with Seungmin almost setting his beaker on fire in chemistry yesterday, I’m done with this week.”

“It’s only Tuesday and I already told you, it was an accident!” Seungmin cries indignantly.

Felix shakes his head exasperatedly as he turns back to face Jisung. “Where are you going anyways? You don’t have academy, right?”

“Oh, no. I’m going out.”

“With that senior? You’ve been hanging out with him a lot lately,” Seungmin says as he slings his backpack over his shoulder.

“He’s really cool! Even though he’s a year older, he doesn’t act like he’s trying to boss me around or anything. He’s really easy to talk to and tells a lot of funny stories.”

“I know.” Felix nods with a smile as the three of them walk out of the classroom and stand at the top of the stairwell. “He seems nice from what you’ve told us about him. Just don’t get home too late. We’ve got that geometry test for Mrs. Hwang in two days and I’m not sure if you can afford spending your summer break doing supplementary lessons again.”

Jisung sticks his tongue out. “Nah, not if she can catch these hands.”

He shouts a “See you guys later!” and quickly runs down the stairs. As he races out of the main entrance, a wide grin spreads across his face when he spots Minho waving at him at the front gate.

“Took you long enough. I almost thought you forgot,” Minho says as he gives Jisung a friendly punch to his side.

“I just got caught up with some stuff. Anyways, how could I forget? I’ve been waiting for _months_ for those curry buns to come back to the convenience store. I swear I’ve even dreamt about them before.”

The two of them start walking down the winding roads off campus to the small, yet bustling, streets of their neighborhood underneath the late afternoon sky. A group of middle school girls crowd around a clothing storefront, snapping photos of their newly bought matching necklaces. A few elderly women chat amongst themselves as they pick out ripe bunches of cherries from an outdoor fruit stand. A construction worker takes a smoke break against a flickering lamppost.

As Jisung’s eyes follow a flock of crows flying overhead towards the distant mountains, he thinks it’s a sign.

“You know…I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and I’ve decided that I’m going to do it.”

Minho tilts his head at him as they turn the corner down another street. “Do what?”

“I’m going to join the school festival.”

“Don’t we all have to do that though? I thought your class was going to make hotteok, no?”

“No, not like the booth stuff but” -- Jisung bites down on his bottom lip -- “I want to perform. On stage. At the school festival.”

“Oh.” Minho nods. “So it’s like that.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s kind of embarrassing and I never told you before, but I like writing. Not just writing, but I like writing raps?” He hates how he sounds like he’s asking himself something he’s normally so sure and confident about, but Jisung keeps pushing forward. “I want to be a rapper. It’s something I’m good at and that I know I’m good at. I just never really had the chance. You know, to do that. To do it in front of a lot of people.”

Minho’s eyes widen. “You have songs, then?”

Jisung groans and covers his face with his hands, red cheeks burning hot on his fingers. “I do, but I don’t really want to show them to you. Not right now, I mean. It’s just kinda -”

“Embarrassing? That’s cool, though. To have something you really like and want to do.”

All of their walking and talking leads them to the convenience store. The fluorescent lights cast long shadows across their faces as they stand facing each other by the sliding doors.

“Really? You mean it?”

“Of course. All those times I’ve seen you at noraebang, I think you’d kill it.”

Minho looks away for a moment and takes a step closer to him when some office workers try to walk around them as they exit through the doors. Jisung can’t help the smile on his face when their eyes meet again. “I’ll show you my writing sometime.”

They go inside and successfully leave with a plastic bag of steaming curry buns. Also picking up a pair of popsicles on the way out, they eat it together as they sit right outside of the convenience store on a couple of flimsy plastic chairs. Minho finishes his first, getting a stick with the words “winner” printed at the end. Jisung’s mouth turns down when his stick supplies him with nothing. Minho gets up without a word to go inside, only to walk back out and shove his free popsicle that he redeemed with his stick at the counter in front of Jisung’s face. Jisung insists that he should keep it despite Minho’s nonchalance as he waves a hand in the air, repeating to him how he really doesn’t need it and that he doesn’t care about it anyways. He eventually accepts it though, after two more minutes of bickering, when Minho starts yelling at him that the popsicle is starting to melt in his hands.

They continue sitting outside until the popsicle is all finished, with Minho laughing at the way the artificial peach juice stains Jisung’s fingers with that loud squawking laugh of his and Jisung rolling his eyes at him.

Jisung, really, is so glad to have met him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “i hate all handsome men!” jisung screams into a mic in a room full of people that didn’t ask for this and the rest of stray kids just standing there on stage as he explains why he picked minho as 7th place in visuals
> 
> “i like being alone!” minho yells into a camera while simultaneously looking like he came out of a clip from a ‘top ten anime betrayals’ yt video when he realizes that jisung is singing mixtape #2 to chan and not to him
> 
> fansigns are absolutely wild


	5. Chapter 5

He thinks he knows.

He thinks he’s always known, but he doesn’t know why.

Maybe it’s the way that without a fail, Jisung will sing along to every single song that Minho puts on during noraebang -- belting out every single lyric of Minho’s favorite songs by heart regardless of how embarrassing or cheesy they are. Maybe it’s the way that even though they see each other so much during the day, Minho can still spend his time constantly messaging Jisung about endless and sometimes meaningless thoughts yet never feeling tired of it. Maybe it’s the way that Jisung brightens over things so seemingly small and trivial that lights up something inside of Minho.

Or maybe it’s the way that Jisung turned around at the bottom of the stairwell that very first day and looked at him with those big starry eyes.

Minho hasn’t been able to sleep for the past three nights because of this and it’s all catching up to him now as he stands in the middle of the gym, distraught while the chaotic sounds of his classmates’ voices shouting and their sneakers pounding against the wooden floors cloud his ears.

He’s only shaken out of his daze when the sound of a whistle blows and distantly hears his teacher frantically yell out, “Chan!”

 

***

 

“I can’t believe you got a nosebleed during PE without even getting hit by a ball.”

“Please don’t bring my chronic bloody noses into this. I can’t help that my body is failing me already at such a young age.”

Minho snorts as the two of them sit at the courtyard, taking their time getting back to class after Chan is discharged from the school infirmary. There aren’t any other people around with classes still being in session at 2:40 in the afternoon. Accompanied by only the sounds of trees rustling in the cool spring breeze and birds twittering about above them, Minho decides to seize the moment before it’s too late.

“So, you know Han Jisung, right?” Minho starts off easily.

“The second year you met right when spring semester started, yeah? Yeah, I know him.”

“And you’ve probably noticed that we hang out. A lot.”

Chan nods. “Yeah, I know. You’ve been hanging out with him a lot more than when you were with your soccer mates.”

“And you know, I only became friends with him because he was trying to date some senior guy.”

“Okay.”

“And at the time, I thought that it’d be a good idea to help him get with that senior guy.”

“Ah - okay.”

“But lately over the past couple of months, it’s been - it’s been different.” A lump he didn’t notice before starts to grow heavy in his throat. He frowns. “Like if I had ten cheese sticks, I wouldn’t share them with anyone. Maybe I’d give four or five to you. But for Jisung, I’d give him all ten of them. It’s so weird. I feel like sometimes I don’t even remember what my life was like before I met him.”

“I don’t know how else to tell you this, but,” Chan says delicately, “I think you might like him. Not in a friend way, but -- like you _like_ like him.”

He turns his whole body to face Minho and places a steady hand on his shoulder as he says with more conviction, “By the way, I’m totally cool with it and I still love you just the way you are.”

Minho lets out a laugh. “Yeah, I’ve been knowing for a while now, but thanks. I just - I know I like him. And I know I like him more than a friend. I like him so much, I can hardly stand it.”

He keeps laughing, a bit sadder sounding now. “This whole thing is so stupid. What’s the point of falling for someone when you know that in the end, all of your efforts are useless because they like someone else. It’s just” -- Minho leans over, elbows on his knees, as he scrubs at his shut eyes with the heel of his palms -- “I’m better off alone. People are so bothersome. I wished I never talked to anybody, so that I could just get through high school in peace and not have to care about anything.”

Minho thinks he can faintly hear something moving behind him but he can’t be bothered to turn around to find out that it’s just his mind playing tricks on him again. His brain is barely keeping it together with the lack of sleep as it is. The only thing that he can fully process is the weight of a large warm hand rubbing his back.

“I’ll support you with whatever choice you make,” a low voice murmurs to him. “I’ll be here. I hope that the things you wish for work out for you in the end.”

Minho leans wordlessly into his friend’s arms that hold him tighter. They stay sitting on the bench like that for awhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every time jisung and minho sing a duet of ‘there has never been a day i haven’t loved you’, an angel gets its wings
> 
> and honestly we all need a friend like chan in our lives despite me constantly wanting to disown him and kick his ass to the seventh realm of hell everytime he says “babygirls” on vlive


	6. Chapter 6

_I wish I never volunteered to help Mr. Yeo, even if I get extra credit out of this_ Jisung grumbles to himself as he tries to balance the papers precariously stacked in his arms while walking down two flights of stairs to the science resource room on the first floor.

If Jisung was getting through biology with passing grades, he wouldn’t have even thought twice about volunteering. With his luck, the timeline he happens to currently live in cursed him with his inability to understand anything related to the maths or sciences -- thus here he is in this current situation.

Successfully avoiding any tripping hazards on the way down, Jisung lets out a sigh of relief as he enters the open corridor. It’s a nice piece of architecture to walk through throughout the day and admire the swaying ginkgo trees surrounding the courtyard. It’s the middle of April, so the branches that were previously bare once November had hit are now bursting with green leaves. He allows himself to close his eyes for a short moment and takes in a deep breath, enveloping himself in the calm bliss of spring.

His eyes fly back open when he suddenly hears voices. Not sure where it’s coming from, he creeps as quietly as he can down the corridor. Careful about not making his presence known as he moves towards the direction of the sound, he starts to recognize one of the voices.

 _What’s Minho doing here skipping class again? Doesn’t he know that his graduation is going to be at stake if he keeps it up?_ Jisung smiles to himself. He picks up the pace now, footsteps tapping more quickly across the stone flooring. He opens his mouth and is about to call out Minho’s name when he hears: “I’m better off alone. People are so bothersome. I wished I never talked to anybody, so that I could just get through high school in peace and not have to care about anything.”

Jisung feels his heart stop beating -- his entire body freezing mid-step. And automatically turns to run in the opposite direction.

He must have heard wrong Jisung thinks as his feet carry him towards a narrow hallway, head pounding wildly. That doesn’t sound right. That doesn’t sound like something Minho would say. That’s not --

But what does Jisung know about him anyways? Jisung is just some second year who he happened to meet in some bizarre chance encounter two months ago. He was too much of a nice guy to ever turn down Jisung’s childish requests to hang out. He was just so nice and cool, and it really did seem like they two of them got along so well. A small secretive thought that Jisung had kept locked away in the back of his mind was beginning to think about how lucky he was to have met someone like him who fit him so perfectly -- more so than even the friends that he’d known for years.

Jisung feels a flash of heat crawl up his neck as his thoughts gradually shift into something more furious. How dare Minho would say something like that behind his back instead of saying it to his face, like how normally straightforward and blunt he is about seemingly anything and everything. If he was feeling this way since the beginning, why didn’t he tell Jisung sooner? Why did he feel the need to keep up a facade when clearly, Jisung was a bother to him this whole entire time?

Hot tears start streaming down his face. He pulls on his hoodie sleeve and rubs at his eyes, but they just don’t stop. He desperately wills his legs to move and walk the rest of the way to the resource room, to just get this task and this entire day over with. But instead, he slides down to the ground, papers still clutched in his hands, as he curls up against the wall and begins to sob.

 

***

 

Through some higher power, Jisung manages to deliver the papers just as the last bell rings. He treks back upstairs to his classroom to grab his belongings and slips out the back entrance of the school. As he quietly walks along the unpaved road, he hears someone call out his name.

“Jisung! There you are!” Felix shouts as Jisung stops to turn around and sees him and Seungmin jogging behind to catch up to him. “We were wondering where you went. You didn’t come back to class!”

Concerned expressions grow on their faces as his friends get closer.

“Is something wrong?” Seungmin’s eyes widen. “What happened?”

Jisung, unable to meet his gaze, looks down at his feet and shakes his head. In less than a second, he feels hands wrap around his waist and fingers brushing through his hair. He buries his face into Felix’s neck.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Jisung struggles to speak as he gathers up all of the energy that he has left. “I - I just thought that he liked me,” he says as he feels his voice catching in his throat. “I just really thought that he liked me.”

“Who? What? What do you mean? Did he do something to you?”

“No, no. I’m - I guess I got it all wrong.”

A fresh new wave of tears starts to spill down his cheeks and into the wool of Felix’s sweater. There’s no use praying for them to stop now.

“But he sounded like a cool guy. I thought you guys were good friends,” Seungmin says angrily. “How could he do something like that?”

The words reverberate through his skull.

 _I don’t know_ Jisung silently whispers as his friends take him by the hand and slowly walk home together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh oh spaghettios


	7. Chapter 7

Minho wakes up with an unusual sort of feeling when he goes back to school the following Monday. The sun is shining through his curtains, his uniform is hanging above his dresser pristinely ironed and cleaned, the bus arrives just on time as he walks up to the curb -- and yet, the moment he steps onto campus there’s a stirring in his chest. He scratches incessantly at his collarbone as he passes through the main entrance.

The uncomfortable feeling is still there hours later when his class breaks for lunch. He gets up without waiting for Chan, who’s currently preoccupied chatting with some girl about extracurriculars, and leaves to go to the restroom. On the way down to the second floor, he spots Jisung walking towards him from the opposite end of the hallway. Minho straightens his back and walks faster, lifting his hand up in a wave as they get closer and --

\-- Jisung keeps on walking, without a single glance back at him.

Minho blinks. He must have imagined it. If it was Jisung, he would already be bounding over to him in the middle of the hallway with that smiling mouth of his, ready to fill him in on all of the details of his weekend and the latest neighborhood gossip. Minho only realizes that his hand is still raised up when he looks around and sees that the busy hallway is now empty.

It’s been such a weird Monday.

The feeling still persists as Monday bleeds into Tuesday. Minho slips out his phone during a rather boring lecture on transcendental functions and types out a new message to Jisung.

 

> minho [10:16 am]: hey there’s a new juice flavor at the vending machine in the west wing. did you see it yet?

> **jisung [10:25 am]:** im in class rn

 

Minho’s eyebrows furrow. He sends back an “oh okay” and sets his phone face up on his desk, waiting to see if any other messages will come through during his class period.

His phone screen remains black for the rest of the day.

It takes until the third day for Minho to notice that Jisung hasn’t been texting him as much -- or at all, really. Texts between them happened pretty much everyday consistently from morning to night, but now suddenly all contact seems to have trickled down to nothing. The only time Minho gets a response is if he reaches out to him first, but even then his replies are short and their conversations end much too soon.

The itching feeling continues to grow.

 

***

 

> minho [3:28 pm]: [image attached]

> minho [3:29 pm]: saw a poster for a new spicy chicken hamburger at that fast food place next to the laundromat when i was on the bus. wanna go?

> **jisung [4:11 pm]:** i can’t make it today, im busy

> minho [4:12 pm]: we can go tomorrow or friday if you want.

> **jisung [4:15 pm]:** im busy all week…

> **jisung [4:15 pm]:** sorry

> minho [4:16 pm]: it’s okay.

 

***

 

> minho [12:26 pm]: at the field. are you coming to lunch?

> **jisung [12:27 pm]:** im eating lunch with some friends

> **jisung [12:27 pm]:** forgot to tell you sooner, sorry

> minho [12:28 pm]: it’s fine.

> minho [12:29 pm]: have fun.

 

***

 

> minho [8:31 pm]: the pizza commercial with that band you like just came on after the news haha.

> minho [9:47 pm]: i think i just heard thunder outside my window. is it gonna rain?

> minho [11:55 pm]: weather app says there’s a 60% chance. remember to bring an umbrella to school tomorrow.

 

***

 

If their text messages are scarce, their conversations in person are even scarcer. These days, Minho rarely sees him anymore in the school hallways. If he does, their interactions mostly consist of Jisung giving a single nod as he continues talking to his friends, while Minho fights the urge to do anything more but nod back.

The weight keeps piling up on his chest. Minho tries to reason with himself -- that he’s just thinking too hard about it and that there’s nothing really wrong. Even so, there’s an unshakable need to put a name to these feelings and to get rid of them once and for all.

Minho finally gets his act together by the following Thursday. Determined, he stands by the lockers at the front entrance at the end of school, hoping to catch Jisung on his way out the door.

Half an hour ticks by and Minho is still waiting. He begins to worry that maybe he had left from a different exit. He mentally beats himself up for not thinking of looking elsewhere sooner when he sees two familiar second years walk by him, vaguely recalling Jisung mentioning their names several times in the past.

“Hey! You two are friends of Jisung, right? Seungmin and Felix?”

Both boys stop in their tracks and turn around, one donning a pair of round glasses and the other with freckles sprinkled across his cheeks. The taller of the two gives him a blank stare through his wired frames. “Yeah, I’m Seungmin and this” -- he points at the boy standing next to him -- “is Felix. Why?”

“Because I need to find him. I’ve been trying to talk to him for the past couple of weeks, but I haven’t been able to and was hoping that you could tell me where he is.”

Seungmin and Felix stare rather intensely at each other, which only lasts for a few seconds before Felix turns around and gives Minho a shrug. “Last time we saw him, he was out at the courtyard. That was ten minutes ago though. He might already be heading home.”

Minho nods. “That’s okay, I can see if I can still catch him there. Thanks.”

With that, Minho sprints to the courtyard in hopes that he can make it in time. As he approaches, the clear outline of Jisung’s face framed by the budding gingko leaves comes into view. He only stops running when he realizes that Jisung’s not standing by himself in the courtyard -- someone else is there with him.

More precisely, Namjoon standing there with him in the middle of the courtyard, talking and laughing together. Jisung is looking up at him with those round twinkling eyes of his as Namjoon says something while making large gestures with his hands. They both laugh a little. They’re too far away and Minho can’t make out what they’re saying to each other, but it wouldn’t matter anyways.

He only hears the sound of something breaking inside of him.

He doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know if he wants to scream at the top of his lungs. He doesn’t know if he wants to run out there and take Jisung by the arm, having him look at him face-to-face for once.

As he takes a few steps out towards them, he realizes that this is what their entire plan -- this entire relationship -- was leading up to all along since the very beginning. There was never any hope for him. He never even stood a chance. What was of their thin veil of friendship was just a way for Jisung to end up with Namjoon in the end. There was no other ending but this.

Minho leaves the scene without uttering a single word and goes home alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE GOIN ✈ EMO HOURS 
> 
> fun fact: this whole entire fic was birthed from the song ‘jealous’ by goldwater with this particular scene in mind ahahaha wow im actually that terrible


	8. Chapter 8

It’s been a tiring couple of weeks for Jisung, to say the least.

He’s starting to feel like the life he’s living isn’t his own. It’s like he’s wading neck-deep through thick waters and his feet are moving through loose sand.

After what he had overheard that Friday, he had spent the past fourteen days in a daze. It doesn’t help that Minho keeps texting him like there’s nothing wrong when Jisung knows what’s really going on inside of his head now. It’s painful whenever his phone lights up with a new message from him. It’s a reminder of how thoughtless and greedy Jisung has been up to this point.

He tries -- he really does -- to respond to him, but it seems that every time he does the words just don’t come out the way he wants them to. He knows how clipped and cold he sounds, but he just can’t help it. There are days that he can’t even answer his phone, let alone look at it.

He doesn’t even know why he started avoiding Minho in the hallways like this. He didn’t plan to, not intentionally. But seeing Minho walking towards him makes Jisung want to spill his guts out. Or break out into tears. Or both.

So maybe Jisung saying that his week has been tiring is not exactly it, but there has been too much to think about in so little time and before he knows it two weeks have already passed and it’s somehow Thursday.

Jisung finds himself helping out his biology teacher again afterschool. Locking up the science resource room and preparing to go home, Jisung is so intent on looking down at the ground to watch where he’s going that he bumps into somebody quite forcefully as he crosses the courtyard. He jumps back a few inches and yelps out a “Sorry!” before his eyes widen when he realizes that the person he crashed into is none other than Kim Namjoon.

Jisung feels his entire soul leave his body. He only manages to regain his composure when Namjoon opens his mouth and says, “Oh, you’re the kid who’s been hanging around Lee Minho a lot lately.”

Jisung lets out a nervous laugh. “Ah… Haha, yeah… That’s me.”

“You know,” Namjoon says as he taps his chin, not noticing Jisung awkwardly shifting on his feet from side to side. “We used to be on the same soccer team and he was a really quirky and funny guy to play around with. I always remember how he used to jump up and down with his knees all the way up and yell whenever we were about to play a game because it hypes him up or something.”

Jisung stops fidgeting and his eyebrows shoot up as he replies, “Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about. He does the same thing before we play at the arcade.”

“Whoa, really? He also used to wear his workout shirts inside-out to practice and tie up his bangs in a ponytail because it would get in his face but sometimes he’d forget to take it out before a real match.”

“Yeah! He still ties up his bangs whenever he has to study for a long time because he says that it blocks his eyesight!” A giggle escapes from Jisung’s chest as he says, “He even eats all of the parts of a hamburger separately like a deconstructed salad and picks out all of the blue raspberry candies first from the bag because those are his favorite.”

They keep on sharing stories about Minho back and forth until they’re both laughing so loud that their voices are echoing throughout the courtyard. Jisung feels much lighter than he has been for awhile as he wipes a stray tear from the corner of his eye. Namjoon looks at him with a kind smile. “It’s really nice that you two are friends. You both seem really close and I’m glad that he has someone who likes him for who he is -- weird guy and all.”

Jisung hesitates. It’s not because what he said isn’t true, but there’s something else laced in the statement that sits strangely in Jisung’s stomach. He settles with giving a small smile back. “Yeah, me too.”

Namjoon continues grinning. “I also heard that you’re a rapper from a couple of other people.”

“It’s been a dream of mine, y-yeah. I - I really look up to you.” Surprisingly, Jisung doesn’t feel as scared as he thought he would be now that he’s talking to him. He finally confesses, “I think your raps are really cool and that your stage presence is really cool. You’re like -- you’re like my idol. I want to be like you.”

Namjoon shakes his head. “No, you should be more like _you_. Just keep running forward and you’ll get to where you want to be someday. You’ve got so much time ahead of you.” He claps a hand on Jisung’s shoulder. “I have two friends that I can introduce to you who are seniors from a different school. They’re also rappers and I think it’d be cool if you guys met. We’re all one of the same, yeah?”

The only thing that Jisung can muster up is to flusteredly stoop into a bow as he gratefully accepts his offer and runs off home. His head is still floating in the clouds while he sits at the bus stop, his heartbeat speeding up a bit as he thinks about what it would be like if he could share this historic moment with someone he secretly wishes he could see right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHOHOHO WHAT IS THIS
> 
> so before it was just a fun part of the fic that jisung would be sharing all of these random facts about minho to namjoon 
> 
> but now apparently that’s a tru fact bc when a fan was asking minho how he saved the members’ contacts during a fansign… jisung, who happened to be sitting next to minho, just cut into the conversation and answered for him instead like..... alrighty then……


	9. Chapter 9

Changed into a pair of thin flannel pants and a faded t-shirt, Minho has been sitting on his bed for the past hour since coming home -- his phone clutched silently in his hand while he stares blankly at the wall. He unlocks the screen, thumb hovering over the call button. He closes his eyes and counts to ten before pressing down on the glowing green icon. It starts to dial and with each taunting ring, Minho grows increasingly anxious thinking whether or not it was a good idea to call in the first place at almost 10 pm on a weekday night. On the fifth ring, however, he hears the telltale click of the phone.

Whatever Minho was about to say immediately dies in his throat when a clear voice comes through the tiny speaker. “Hello?”

Minho is shocked frozen still as he bleakly realizes that didn’t think this far about what would happen if Jisung actually picked up the phone. Silence falls between them for what feels like forever before Jisung says again, “Minho? Are you still there?”

“Uh, sorry. I don’t know why I called,” Minho blurts out and instantly regrets it as he smacks his forehead with the palm of his hand.

_Wow, that wasn’t pathetic at all. Now when you finally have a chance to talk to him after two weeks, you go and totally screw it up. He’s probably gonna hang up now because honestly, who just randomly calls to say ‘I don’t know why I bothered.’ Nice work, asshole._

He scrubs at his hair as he scrambles to think of something more coherent to say and tries again. “I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

There’s a significant pause on the other end. The silence stretches far enough to the point where Minho thinks that he really did hang up, when Jisung replies rather stiffly, “Yeah”.

Red blaring sirens go off in Minho’s head now. This whole entire thing was a complete mistake. It was a stupid idea to even think Jisung would want to talk to him after he’s been making it loud and clear how much he never wanted to see him again, let alone speak with him on the phone in the middle of the night. Minho was useless to him now that he was with Namjoon. He was just making an even bigger fool of himself than what he already was.

The dirt outside of his apartment is starting to look more and more like an appealing place to start digging a hole for himself six feet under when Jisung says in an odd voice, “I really miss talking to you, you know.”

All preparations for an early burial stop and Minho forgets how to breathe for a second.

Countless thoughts threaten to tumble out of his mouth -- things like: “How are you?” or “What have you been up to?” or “I really miss talking to you too.” Instead he keeps his phone pressed close to his ear, listening to the soft static crackling between them as they both sit quietly on the line.

A few minutes pass before Jisung clears his throat. “Hey, I need to go now. I have some math revisions I need to finish… See you tomorrow?”

The tentativeness in his words give Minho a heart-fluttering hope.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, still catching his breath. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They both murmur their goodbyes before ending the call. Minho finds himself smiling for the first time in awhile as he stares down at his phone still cradled in his hands. Friday can’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok but do y’all ever think about how jisung and minho’s ideal type in a friend and a partner is someone with the same characteristics that they’ve used to describe each other time and time again and just cry bc uhhhhh yeah i sure do
> 
> and happy 300 days with stray kids and 2 year anniversary with 3RACHA !!! let's continue running towards this flowery path and may happiness continue to bloom your way ｡･:*:･ﾟ


	10. Chapter 10

They see each other again the next day in the hallways. Jisung spots Minho first as he’s passing through the third floor to get to his morning classes. Minho’s elbows are propped up on the window sill, his entire body leaning forward as he peacefully gazes out the open window. Jisung hesitates -- not wanting to ruin the mood -- before he takes one determined huff and strides down the hallway towards him, giving Minho a hard jab in the ribs.

Minho, of course, yells out of surprise and anger until he turns around to see that it’s just Jisung and shoots him a mildly annoyed look instead. “When you said ‘see you tomorrow’, I didn’t think it’d mean that you were going to try and murder me.”

Whatever was left of the residual awkwardness inside of Jisung instantly fades away. He rolls his eyes. “I didn’t even hit you that hard.”

“If I have to go to the ER from my ribs being punctured, you’re paying for my hospital bills.”

“Sorry, I don’t have enough money for that.” Jisung says with a smug smile. “I spent all of my money hiring a new best friend.”

The corner of Minho’s mouth twitches up. “You little piece of shit.”

“Serves you right, asshole.”

The bell suddenly rings. Minho takes the opportunity to punch Jisung in the shoulder when his guard is down and quickly makes his escape down the hallway to his classroom with that maniacal cackle of his that has Jisung doubled over with laughter.

He truly had missed this.

After that, things slowly fall back to normal. They talk and text on a regular basis again, flooding their chat with photos and weird internet posts that Jisung has been dying to share -- and he’s one hundred percent sure that Minho feels the same way too. On Tuesday, Jisung invites Minho to sit with him and Felix during lunch out on the field while Seungmin is unfortunately held up inside with his recycling club members. He’s a little worried at first, thinking about how Felix would react to Minho knowing that Minho was the reason for Jisung’s extremely high amount of stress for the past two weeks. As the heavens would have it, Minho and Felix get along with each other swimmingly with their shared easy-going and friendly personalities and Jisung couldn’t be happier.

With May swiftly approaching, Jisung spends more and more time working on his festival performance. After much deliberation, he decides to do a cover of a rap instead of performing one of his own for the sake that people would be more inclined to listen to something they were familiar with. Whether he’s standing far too long in the shower while he washes up in the morning or waiting at an empty bus stop as the sun sets over the jagged mountains, he diligently practices any moment of the day that he’s free. Minho, Felix, and Seungmin frequently try to persuade Jisung to spill out any details of his preparations any chance they get whenever they see him, but he profusely denies to give them any hints about his performance and insists that he wants to keep it a surprise.

In a blink of an eye, the school is in full swing the week before the festival with preparations. Food stalls and game booths go from blueprint sketches to physical tangible structures being built and put in place outside throughout campus. Students and staff alike zip back and forth between different wings of the building, carrying armloads of materials and calling out instructions to one another in a chaotic frenzy.

Soon, the day of the festival arrives and Jisung’s heart hasn’t beat this crazily hard since he won gold in a relay race during Sports Day in the sixth grade. He thinks it might just leap straight out of his chest and after hours of suspense, the time finally comes for him to go up on stage in a dark auditorium crowded to the brim with people buzzing with anticipation as they wait for the next performance.

A teacher hands him the mic and Jisung takes it with shaky fingers.

Imagining what it would be like to stand in front of everybody was one thing, but actually doing it in real life was another. The emcee’s voice echoes throughout the entire auditorium as she announces Jisung’s act and the intro beat of his track begins pumping through the giant floor speakers. He can hear the unsteadiness of his voice as he starts off the first verse, but as the rap progresses he grows more and more confident and feels an electricity coursing through his veins. Looking out at the crowd, he can see Felix and Seungmin on his right side holding up banners with his name in bold large letters glittering in the dim light as they cheer loudly above the rest. Sweeping his gaze to the left, Jisung's eyes meets a familiar pair of twinkling dark ones staring right back at him with a handsome smile and his heart swells infinitely bigger knowing that Minho is out there too supporting him. Swept up in a new wave of euphoria, he completely throws himself into the music and loses all inhibition.

Before he knows it, the track comes to an end and the audience erupts in a deafening applause. The adrenaline is still rushing through his body as he steps off the stage with wobbly legs. Utterly dazed, he doesn’t even realize that there are people next to him until he hears a chorus of voices speaking above him.

“That was amazing!”

“Your voice color is so cool!”

“What you did in the bridge was pretty neat.”

Confused, Jisung shakes out of his stupor and finds Namjoon and two other boys he doesn’t recognize hovering around him excitedly -- one of them with flouncy bright red hair and the other with his polo shirt haphazardly untucked and tie hanging askew.

“So tell me,” the boy with red hair says as he clasps his hands together with sparkling eyes. “Where did you get a rap flow like that?”

“Uhhh,” Jisung blinks. “Practice?”

“More importantly, why haven’t you introduced us before, Namjoon?”

“Well, you’ve met him now, right? He’s got one hell of a talent, doesn’t he? I bet he could easily stand his ground against you in a battle,” Namjoon says, beaming. Suddenly, he gasps. “Oh man, I totally forgot to introduce you guys. My bad. Jisung, meet Hoseok and Yoongi. Hoseok and Yoongi, meet Jisung.”

“It’s nice to meet you!” Hoseok, the boy with the red hair, says while taking both of Jisung’s hands and shaking it eagerly.

Yoongi, the boy with the unkempt uniform, sticks with keeping his hands in his pockets and gives a short nod. “Nice to meet you.”

“Since we’re all here, let’s go around and see the rest of the festival. I heard that there’s a ring toss game that gives you an entire full-size bag of popcorn if you win.”

Jisung shakes his head apologetically. “You guys can go ahead. I actually need to do something first.”

“Totally understandable,” Namjoon smiles. He loops his arms around Yoongi and Hoseok’s shoulders, crushing them into a group hug that has Yoongi looking horrified and Hoseok looking absolutely elated. “Come find us when you have time.”

They part ways after exiting the auditorium and exchanging phone numbers with one another, promising to meet up someday for a real rap cypher in the near future. Now finally alone, Jisung whips his head from side to side before deciding to walk inside through the long hallways of the school instead of going out to the field where the rest of the festivities are being held.

There’s someone he needs to find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, watching unveil tour bangkok fancams for the thousandth time: “im still alive but im barely breathing”
> 
> also namjoon headbopping to jisung’s verse in district 9 during their mama japan performance and hoseok and yoongi commentating during jisung's verse in my pace at their seoul music awards performance are An Actual Thing and i can’t believe that i prophesied this when i first wrote this scene a month before it even happened…... truly incredible……...


	11. Chapter 11

Watching as the rest of the school revels in all of the excitement and joy of the festivities today, Minho finds himself standing around on the rooftop feeling a bit sorry for himself.

He had been sitting in the audience, completely enraptured and bursting with pride seeing Jisung fly across the stage with so much uncontainable joy and fervor. He made sure that his claps were the loudest out of the entire auditorium once Jisung finished his performance. He had gotten up from his seat in a move to congratulate him for doing such an amazing job after stepping down from the stage. As he got closer though, Namjoon and two other students in unfamiliar school uniforms were already crowded around him in a circle and shaking his hand, complimenting him.

Looking upon the happy scene, Minho turned around and left the auditorium, resolving within himself that he could find him later to tell him his congratulations.

He had walked around the food stalls outside with Chan for about fifteen minutes before bolting out of there the second Chan was dragged away by some burly-looking guy from the kendo club and the short mathematics nerd from class 2-A that always helped him with calculus -- which is why Minho is up here alone on the rooftop now.

_Get a grip, Lee Minho. Stop acting like your life is over._

His phone suddenly buzzes. He fishes it out of his front pant pocket to see a text just sent from Jisung.

 

> **jisung [2:17 pm]:** where are you ???

> **jisung [2:17 pm]** : im still at school rn
> 
> **jisung [2:18 pm]** : (´๑・⌓・｀)

 

Minho swipes to his recent calls history and presses dial on the first number he sees on the list. It rings only once before Jisung picks up and is already talking a mile a minute over the phone: “Hey, did you leave already? Hello? Where are you? Are you still at school? I don’t see you.”

“You sure ask a lot of questions. What are you, part of the FBI?”

Jisung barks out a laugh. “If I was working for the FBI, I’d have more important things to do than walking half the distance of this city trying to find you.” There’s a slight pause before he says more shyly, “I saw you at my performance. Did you like it?”

Minho can’t help the smile on his face. “You were amazing up there. I think you really were born to be a star.”

“Oh, wow. That’s super cheesy.”

“Shut up.”

“That’s probably one of the most sincere things you’ve ever said to me next to you saying that it wasn’t ‘that bad’ that one time when I messed up with my curling iron and my hair smelled like burnt rubber for the whole day.”

“I take it back.”

“No! You can’t take it back! That’s not how it works!”

“Says who? Do you control the space-time continuum?”

Jisung’s exasperated sigh filters through the speaker as loud noises clash around in the background.

“What’s going on over there?”

“Oh, shoot. Sorry. There’s just a lot of people around me. I’m gonna go somewhere else.” The voices grow quieter as the sound of steps walking up an empty stairwell echo through the phone. “Also, where are you anyways? You never said where you were.”

“Hm? I’m right -” he says as the rooftop door suddenly swings open. Minho’s eyes widen as Jisung steps through the doorway and onto the roof, meeting his gaze and wearing a similar look of surprise when he also sees him.

“Here,” Minho finishes off lamely. They both stare at each other across the way and hang up the phone as Jisung walks towards him until they’re standing less than a meter apart.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Didn’t think you’d find me that fast.”

“Well, I didn’t spend all those months destroying your ass at laser tag for nothing.”

They both dissolve into a fit of giggles. Minho runs a hand through his hair before casually saying, “So I saw you with Namjoon earlier.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. After your performance. Who were the other guys you were with?”

“A couple of friends of his from Cheongdam. They came here to visit.”

“Seems like he wanted you guys to hang out together.”

Jisung waves it off. “Eh,” he says. “I told him that I could meet him later.”

“But why?”

“Why not?”

“But _why_?”

“But _why_ not?” Jisung repeats, frowning. “Why are you so concerned anyways?”

“Of course I’m concerned!” Minho says. “You finally have your chance to get Namjoon to like you back!”

Jisung’s expression darkens as he narrows his eyes. “What. The actual fuck. Are you talking about.”

Minho can’t contain his frustration and shouts at him, “What about this situation don’t you understand?! You’re wasting away a perfectly good opportunity to get with him after all this time you’ve been trying to talk to him!”

Jisung, eyes now flaming red hot with anger, screams back at the top of his lungs, “Did you think this whole fucking time that I was in love with him or something?!”

“Wasn’t that the whole point of you taking up my offer?!”

“No, you fucking dumbass! I wanted to be his friend at most, maybe. But I really only wanted to have the chance to talk to someone who I look up to a lot because he’s really good at rapping! Not because I want to fucking date him, you dickhead!”

Minho feels the entire world stop spinning on its axis. “Holy shit,” he breathes out.

He can’t make any sense of his thoughts. His mind is blank and racing out of control all at the same time, before something buried deep inside of him erupts from his core. “Okay, yeah! I admit that I was being kind of a dumbass! But what about you?! So you don’t have a crush on Namjoon, sure! But you were avoiding me for weeks and I don’t even know what I did to make you mad at me!”

“Wh - what?” Jisung sputters out. “I wasn’t avoiding you! I mean - I mean was, sort of. But that’s because I thought that’s what you wanted!”

“And why would I _want_ to be avoided by you?”

“Because… Because….” Jisung flushes as he scratches at his cheek sheepishly. “I overheard you saying that you thought that people were bothersome and I bother you all the time….... making you hang out with me and stuff. It was on accident though, I promise!”

Minho feels the entire universe clicking into place.

“Just so we’re clear.” he says slowly. “You don’t make me to do anything. I do things with you because _I_ want to do them with you.”

“But -“

“And I didn’t mean anything by that. It’s not about you, I swear.”

A pause. “Really?”

“Uh,” Minho says. “I mean, technically yes?”

Jisung throws his hands up in the air. “So what is it then! Do you hate me or not!”

“No! Of course not! Of course I don’t hate you! I thought you liked Namjoon and acted like a jealous douchebag! Because -” The pounding of his heart is probably audible at this point as it ricochets wildly between his ribs. He clenches his fists together so tight that he fears that his nails will break skin. He takes in a single shaky breath before he says in a quiet whisper, “Because I kinda sorta maybe have a crush on you oh god please kill me.”

Jisung’s jaw drops. “Oh my god.”

“Yeah.”

“This is so dumb.”

“Well, jeez, thanks.”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” Jisung says with arms flailing around him. “I just meant that I definitely don’t have a crush on Namjoon.”

He bites his lip, the tips of his ears turning red before he continues, “But I kinda sorta maybe have a crush on you too.”

Minho feels the world stop turning once again. He throws his head back at the big open blue sky above him, mentally cursing at himself, and groans. “We’re really just a bunch of idiots.”

Jisung snorts. “Speak for yourself. You’re the one who thought I was trying to get in Namjoon’s pants since the very beginning.”

Minho snaps his head back forward and points an accusing finger at him. “Hey! You’re one to talk! You’re the one who went along with it so you’re in the same boat as me, dumbass!”

“Are you really insulting your boyfriend like this on the first day? Wow, I sure feel loved.”

“Says the person who called me a dickhead less than ten minutes ago, dickhead.”

“Okay it’s settled. This is officially the worst date of my life. God, you’re the absolute worst.” Jisung grabs at Minho’s collar with both hands and yanks him forward. “You owe me a deluxe chocolate crepe to make up for all this headassery, you bastard.”

With brows suddenly furrowed and eyes squeezed shut, he puckers up his lips with such fierce determination in what Minho can’t help but think is a very cute demand for a kiss. He laughs at the obvious impatience growing on Jisung’s face as they stand centimeters apart, before he leans in and closes the rest of the distance. Pink-bloomed lips moving with honey-like slowness as they touch, eager young hands finding their way to one another and interlocking like perfect puzzle pieces, a warm breeze blowing through the loose cotton of their shirts and ruffling the soft waves of their hair -- it’s as simple and as serendipitous of a moment as it could be.

Minho wouldn’t have his life any other way.

When they eventually pull apart, both rosy-cheeked and a little breathless, Jisung lifts his chin up and gives him a defiant look. “Hurry up. Let’s get out of here before I change my mind.”

Minho looks down at Jisung’s hands still in his and smiles. “I doubt you ever will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> minho staring at jisung with his mouth slightly open when he does his sexy dance on broadcast while everyone else is screaming has the same energy as the words "i want to capture that" coming out of jisung's mouth after minho does his sexy pose on live radio while everyone else is still screaming two eras later
> 
> now that the finale of this story is here im gonna go off to celebrate with a giant slice of chinatown fruit cake lol
> 
> and thanks for reading this fic till the end! i had a lot of fun writing it and i hope you had some fun too ☆
> 
>  
> 
> come find me in other places!
> 
> twitter: @heywitchboys  
> 


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